The Tribe of Levi (Moses and the Priests)

Numbers 3:17

Exodus 6:16-25

The Ancestors of Moses and Aaron

16 These are the descendants of Levi, as listed in their family records: The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (Levi lived to be 137 years old.)

17 The descendants of Gershon included Libni and Shimei, each of whom became the ancestor of a clan.

18 The descendants of Kohath included Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. (Kohath lived to be 133 years old.)

19 The descendants of Merari included Mahli and Mushi.

These are the clans of the Levites, as listed in their family records.

20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she gave birth to his sons, Aaron and Moses. (Amram lived to be 137 years old.)

21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zicri.

22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she gave birth to his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. Their descendants became the clans of Korah.

25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she gave birth to his son, Phinehas.

These are the ancestors of the Levite families, listed according to their clans.

Numbers 3:1-4

Levites Appointed for Service

1 This is the family line of Aaron and Moses as it was recorded when the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: 2 The names of Aaron’s sons were Nadab (the oldest), Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These sons of Aaron were anointed and ordained to minister as priests. 4 But Nadab and Abihu died in the Lord’s presence in the wilderness of Sinai when they burned before the Lord the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. Since they had no sons, this left only Eleazar and Ithamar to serve as priests with their father, Aaron.

1 Chronicles 6:1-3

The Priestly Line

1 The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

2 The descendants of Kohath included Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

3 The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

1 Chronicles 6:16-30

The Levite Clans

16 The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

17 The descendants of Gershon included Libni and Shimei.

18 The descendants of Kohath included Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

19 The descendants of Merari included Mahli and Mushi.

The following were the Levite clans, listed according to their ancestral descent:

1 Chronicles 6:49-50

Aaron’s Descendants

49 Only Aaron and his descendants served as priests. They presented the offerings on the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense, and they performed all the other duties related to the Most Holy Place. They made atonement for Israel by doing everything that Moses, the servant of God, had commanded them.

1 Chronicles 15:3-12

3 Then David summoned all Israel to Jerusalem to bring the Ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it. 4 This is the number of the descendants of Aaron (the priests) and the Levites who were called together:

5 From the clan of Kohath, 120, with Uriel as their leader.

6 From the clan of Merari, 220, with Asaiah as their leader.

7 From the clan of Gershon, 130, with Joel as their leader.

8 From the descendants of Elizaphan, 200, with Shemaiah as their leader.

9 From the descendants of Hebron, 80, with Eliel as their leader.

10 From the descendants of Uzziel, 112, with Amminadab as their leader.

11 Then David summoned the priests, Zadok and Abiathar, and these Levite leaders: Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to them, “You are the leaders of the Levite families. You must purify yourselves and all your fellow Levites, so you can bring the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.

Leviticus 10:1-2

1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the Lord by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. 2 So fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the Lord.

Numbers 25:7-13

7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up and left the assembly. He took a spear 8 and rushed after the man into his tent. Phinehas thrust the spear all the way through the man’s body and into the woman’s stomach. So the plague against the Israelites was stopped, 9 but not before 24,000 people had died.

10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by being as zealous among them as I was. So I stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my zealous anger. 12 Now tell him that I am making my special covenant of peace with him. 13 In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with me.”

Numbers 26:57-61

The Tribe of Levi

57 This is the record of the Levites who were counted according to their clans:
The Gershonite clan, named after their ancestor Gershon.
The Kohathite clan, named after their ancestor Kohath.
The Merarite clan, named after their ancestor Merari.

58 The Libnites, the Hebronites, the Mahlites, the Mushites, and the Korahites were all subclans of the Levites.

Now Kohath was the ancestor of Amram, 59 and Amram’s wife was named Jochebed. She also was a descendant of Levi, born among the Levites in the land of Egypt. Amram and Jochebed became the parents of Aaron, Moses, and their sister, Miriam. 60 To Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they burned before the Lord the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded.